Stories from Tuesday, July 6, 2021

Carnival isn’t a job, it’s a family tradition. Midwest Rides, out of Elk River, Minn. will bring the midway to the Buena Vista County Fair July 8-12 - the company’s first time at the Alta grounds. Finding a carnival is increasingly difficult to do, fair organizers say. They went to the Tulip Festival in Orange City to give this one the once over, and were impressed with the operation. They hope to build an ongoing relationship with a midway provider to ensure an attraction for years to come...

The 26th annual Lakeshore Cyclery B-4 Bike Ride is planned for Sunday, July 18, starting at 9 a.m. at the bike shop. Registration is 7:30-8:30 a.m. The shop will be open during that period for equipment and minor repairs. Registration is $30 prior to July 12, $35 later, and includes a BBQ lunch with brats, burgers and refreshments after the ride, and a t-shirt or snap koozie. Single Speed Brewing from Waterloo will be joining in the event. See the Lakeshore Cyclery Facebook page for updates...

The Fonda Arts Center welcomed RK Welander on Sunday, July 18, for an afternoon of rock ’n’ roll and blues music. Mary Morgan, a talented story teller from Schaller, will share the spotlight as she presents “the Art of Bookmaking.” Since 2014, Mary has been creating and crafting her own books from start to finish about people, places, and happenings that have a special place in her heart, or in the hearts of others, in hopes that these stories will touch the hearts of her readers as well. ...

The Iowa Rock ’n Roll Music Association announces the First Annual Lake Okoboji Rock Festival, an exciting eight-artist music festival. The Lake Okoboji Rock Festival will feature many of Iowa’s and the region’s most innovative and talented independent rock artists. Wrist band orders are available at iowarocknroll.com/events and are $15 in advance, $20 at the door. A wristband will cover all shows, all day...

The DNR Derelict Building Grant Program awarded grants to nine small, rural Iowa communities to help deconstruct or renovate abandoned structures, remove asbestos, and limit construction and demolition materials going to the landfill. The DNR Derelict Building Grant Program was instituted by statute to help rural communities with populations of 5,000 or less remove environmental hazards, improve community appearance and minimize costs by recycling and reusing building materials through deconstruction or renovation of abandoned, derelict buildings.. ...

Teepa Snow, MS, OTR/L, FAOTA, one of the nation’s most dynamic and uplifting dementia care experts, and founder of Positive Approach to Care (PAC), will present Coping with Challenging Situations in Dementia Care on Tuesday, August 17, 2021. Nurses, Nursing Home Staff, at home caregivers, and anyone affected by dementia are encouraged to attend...

The members of Alceco, based in Albert City, Iowa, have voted in favor of a merger with First Cooperative Association (FCA) of Cherokee, Iowa. While the legal entity will be located in Cherokee, the combined organization will maintain home offices both there and in Albert City to serve customers...

Becky Dirkx, age 71, died peacefully at her home in rural Storm Lake, Iowa on Wednesday, June 30, 2021 surrounded by family. Funeral Mass will take place Tuesday, July 6, 2021 at 10:30 a.m. at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Storm Lake. Burial will be in the St. ...

Gun deaths are surging in Iowa as a law is wento into effect Thursday that allows people to more easily buy handguns and carry them in public without training or a permit. A record 353 Iowa residents died from gunshot wounds in 2020, including 263 suicides and 85 homicides, an Iowa Department of Public Health spokeswoman said Tuesday. The shooting deaths represent a 23% increase from Iowa’s previous high of 287 in 2019, including an 80% jump in homicides, according to state data...

Most of Northwest Iowa is under moderate or severe drought that is beginning to take a toll on pasture carrying capacity, according to Beth Doran, beef specialist with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. Doran reminds producers that changes in management can help extend pasture forage...

Ahead of the July 4th holiday, members of Iowa’s congressional delegation led the passage of a veteran’s mental health bill, visited Iowa in a glimpse of what the 2024 caucus cycle might look like and voted on whether to create a commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol attack...

New laws on guns, education, alcohol delivery and more are in effect as of last Thursday. The beginning of the fiscal year, July 1, marks the end of a banner year for legislative Republicans: When the session ended in May, Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver said that Republicans had achieved “most, if not all” of their priorities...

Casey’s General Stores’ April giving campaign raised over $790,000 for Special Olympics and the work the organization is doing to ensure individuals of all abilities have equal opportunities. In April, Casey’s General Stores held a 16-day round-up campaign to support Special Olympics and the work the organization is doing to build a more inclusive world for the over 100,000 athletes and Unified partners that live in Casey’s 16-state footprint. ...

Storm Lake (incl Little Storm Lake) Water clarity is around 3 to 5 feet in most areas. Channel Catfish - Good: Use cut bait or troll crankbaits along shore; catfish are spawning. Walleye - Fair: The shore bite has slowed. Anglers are still picking up fish mid-lake while trolling along the dredge cuts using crankbaits and spinners with crawlers during mid-day. ...

When the cap and gown from Buena Vista University arrived at the home of Bibiana Elena Lemus, it was cause for a family celebration. “We opened the package and my mom told me how big this was to our entire family,” says Lemus, a BVU psychology major from Council Bluffs...

Somewhere on a refrigerator there exists a faded photograph showing David Phalen ringing the Buena Vista University Victory Bell following Commencement in 1992. Standing next to David is his son, Chris, shy of four years old. Nearly three decades later, Chris Phalen has returned to the Victory Bell on BVU’s idyllic lakeside campus, to start work as the University’s Director of Choral Activities...

Less than half the population of Buena Vista County is fully vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus, and for health officials, convincing the rest of the population to get the shot often proves frustrating. “How do you reach them? I wish I knew. I wish somebody knew,” county Public Health Director Julie Sather told the Pilot-Tribune. “People think COVID is gone because life has returned to more normal. It isn’t.”...

Three of the six public beaches around Storm Lake have recently tested well above state standards for E. coli bacteria contamination. In the most recent samples taken June 29, Frank Starr Park Beach sampled at 1,400 colony-forming units of E. coli per 100ml of water, far above the state single-sample standard of 235 or less...

Two Storm Lake residents were killed and another injured in a two-motorcycle accident Friday night on county road C65 east of 90th Avenue, near the Storm Lake Airport. Pronounced dead at the scene were Martin De Jesus Cruz, age 30, and Phya Soe Aung, 28, despite first responders’ efforts at CRP...

When a donation ends in five zeroes, people tend to sit up and take notice. That was the case with a crowd that gathered last week at the Prairie Heritage Center to hear an announcement that to that point had been kept quiet. O’Brien County Conservation Board accepted a donation from Gregg Daniel Struve, who recently established The Dan and Jean Struve Charitable Fund and Charitable Endowment to benefit the area nature center, and serve as a legacy in honor of his parents...

The Star Spangled Spectacular drew a huge crowd Sunday in its return after a year missing the celebration. Scores of kids took part in the giant parade, including St. Mary’s students on a float that thanked their “Hometown Heroes” in keeping with the 2021 theme. They shared their gratitude for veterans, health workers, teachers, police and more. The Parade of Nations features costumes, dancing and floats representing the many cultures that are part of the community. See page 14 for more...